Pope Francis says he has no plans to resign and isn’t suffering from any health problems that would require doing so, saying in a new memoir he still has “many projects to bring to fruition”. Source: NCR Online.
Francis, 87, made the comments in an autobiography, Life: My Story Through History, which is being published on March 19, the 11th anniversary of his installation as pope. Extensive excerpts were published yesterday in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
In the memoir, written with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, Francis traces key moments of his life and their intersection with world events and how they together inform his priorities as pope.
Significantly, he addresses recurring speculation about his health problems, criticism from conservatives and what both may mean for the future of his pontificate.
In his memoir, he stressed that the papacy is a job for life but that “if a serious physical impediment” occurs, he has already penned a letter of resignation that is being held in the Secretariat of State.
“But this is, I repeat, a distant possibility, because I truly do not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning,” he said. “Some people may have hoped that sooner or later, perhaps after a stay in the hospital, I might make an announcement of that kind, but there is no risk of it: Thanks be to God, I enjoy good health, and as I have said, there are many projects to bring to fruition, God willing.”
Francis acknowledged that critics inside the Vatican and out have accused him of destroying the papacy and have tried to block the reforms that he was mandated by cardinals to enact as a result of his 2013 election.
“There was a strong desire to change things, to abandon certain attitudes, which, sadly, have proved difficult to eradicate,” he said. “Needless to say, there are always some who wish to put the brakes on reform, who want things always to stay as they were during the days of pope kings.”
FULL STORY
Pope acknowledges criticism, health issues but says in upcoming memoir he has no plans to retire (By Nicole Winfield, AP via NCR Online)
RELATED COVERAGE
Pope, in new book, says he has not considered resigning (OSV News)
